At a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, Beaumont Hospital-Farmington Hills announced a $1 million gift from Farmington Emergency Medicine Associates PLC, for the new construction and renovations coming to the 51-year-old campus.

At an estimated cost of $160 million, the expansion project represents a significant investment in the Farmington Hills hospital and is Beaumont Health's largest capital project since forming its new eight-hospital system in 2014. While Beaumont Health is funding $150 million of the project, it is relying on support from the community for the remaining $10 million.

The $1 million gift from 16 physician members of Farmington Emergency Medicine Associates is a kick-start to a capital fundraising campaign for the project.

"My fellow emergency medicine physicians and I wanted to give back to this hospital, where many of us received our residency training. We are front-line clinicians who serve the needs of about 65,000 emergency and trauma patients every year," said Sanford Vieder, chair of Emergency Medicine and medical director of the Emergency and Trauma Center at Beaumont-Farmington Hills. "We want our gift to show how much we appreciate getting a new Emergency and Level II Trauma Center. Our ideas for this project have been well-received by hospital and corporate leadership and have been integrated into the design."

The project includes both expansion and renovation. New construction at the hospital totals more than 210,000 square feet. Renovations are being made to more than 61,500 square feet of existing space.

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Buildings in white are part of the expansion.(Photo: JUNFU HAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

The expansion of the East Pavilion will include:

An expanded Emergency and Level II Trauma Center that will grow by more than 60 percent to 58 treatment and evaluation bays, including three trauma rooms, increasing capacity to 88,000 patient visits per year from the current 65,000.

An expanded Surgical Services department that will grow from six to nine operating rooms, with 27 new private patient rooms for preoperative and postoperative care and a new, expanded family waiting area.

A new 20-bed critical care unit with four additional bays.

Relocating the hospital's heliport to ground level from its current location on the roof.

The expansion will create a safer, more comfortable healing environment for patients, hospital officials said. The additional space and updates are being designed "to enhance the patient experience and help staff deliver quality, compassionate care."

"These changes to our hospital will help address current and future needs of patients and families, allowing us to better deliver on our mission of compassionate, extraordinary care every day," said Connie O'Malley, president, Beaumont-Farmington Hills. "It's very exciting to be able to bring about these much-needed updates and we are very grateful to Farmington Emergency Medicine Associates for their generous support."

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The newly finished parking structure is part of the expansion at Beaumont Hospital in Farmington Hills.(Photo: JUNFU HAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)